Scandal with State Bank: Zelensky Comments on Possible Dismissal of NBU Head Pyshny

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he will not initiate the replacement of the head of the National Bank, Andriy Pyshny.

As reported by Delo.ua, Zelensky made this statement during a conversation with journalists, according to "Ukrinform."

According to him, the National Bank is an independent institution, and Pyshny remains its acting head.

"I have not initiated any steps for his replacement. This is an independent institution. Pyshny is the head of the National Bank. He has complicated relations with the government and with parliamentarians. Not just with this government, but in general - with government positions. Because the position of the National Bank under him and the position of the Ministry of Finance are very different on many issues," Zelensky emphasized.

He added that during difficult moments between the institutions, he was asked to mediate the situation, and he has done so over the past years.

"But now, when various information campaigns have already begun that want to influence something, I no longer participate in the adjustment of dialogue between these institutions. Let them understand that they need to think about stability in the state, not about information campaigns," he noted.

Zelensky is dissatisfied with Pyshny due to his connections with the IMF and his public visibility.

Zelensky is unhappy with the work of the head of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andriy Pyshny, but does not plan to remove him from office, Bloomberg reported a few weeks ago, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation.

According to the publication's sources, Zelensky's dissatisfaction was allegedly caused by Pyshny's close relations with the International Monetary Fund. In particular, the head of the NBU allegedly angered the president with demands for a number of unpopular conditions in exchange for an IMF loan program of $8.1 billion.

Among these demands was a tax increase, which provoked sharp criticism from Ukrainian deputies and ordinary citizens. Zelensky was outraged by the concessions that Ukraine made to the IMF, and he placed the responsibility for this on several officials, including Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and former Deputy Prime Minister Taras Vytko.

In addition, senior officials close to Zelensky, who spoke with Bloomberg, said that the NBU under Pyshny allegedly did little to support the economy during the war.

Another reason for dissatisfaction with Pyshny is his public activity, which Zelensky considers more characteristic of a politician than of a technocratic head of a central bank.

It is worth noting that the head of the parliamentary Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, Danylo Hetmantsev, after the NABU and SAP case against the state-owned JSC "Sens Bank," demands Pyshny's resignation.

On August 19, the government, following the NABU and SAP case, decided to suspend the chairman of the supervisory board of JSC "Sens Bank," Mykola Hladysheko, from exercising his powers for six months and initiated the suspension of the chairman of the board, Oleksiy Stupak.

After that, the National Bank's Committee on Supervision and Regulation of Banking Activities decided that the chairman of the supervisory board of "Sens Bank," Mykola Hladysheko, did not meet the legislative requirements for independence.

The National Bank also opened an administrative proceeding to assess the collective unsuitability of the supervisory board.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau announced the conduct of a new special operation - "Forest Gump" - to expose "high-level corruption."

According to the investigation, the defendants took control of the state-owned "Sens Bank" to use it for private interests. In particular - to pay bail for the defendant in the "Midas operation" (also known as the "Timur Mindich case") with "criminally obtained funds."

Law enforcement officials do not name the person for whom the bail was being collected. However, the details mentioned point to former Minister of Energy and Justice Herman Halushchenko.

In February, the VAKS took Halushchenko into custody with the possibility of bail.

Herman Halushchenko is a figure in the large-scale "Midas operation" (also known as the "Mindich case") aimed at exposing corruption in the energy sector. According to the investigation, businessman Timur Mindich influenced Halushchenko, and the minister himself was involved in money laundering.

According to law enforcement officials, the criminal group included the deputy head of the President's Office, a former people's deputy, the chairman of the state bank, and the chairman of the supervisory board of the state bank:

• Deputy Head of the President's Office of Ukraine (likely referring to Iryna Mudra);
• Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the state-owned "Sens Bank" (likely referring to Oleksiy Stupak and Mykola Hladysheko);

On the same day, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Iryna Mudra from her position as Deputy Head of the President's Office. The corresponding decree is dated August 19.

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